In the food-packaging industry, and particularly in the sector that relates to children's food, several food-packing products have been introduced that enhance convenience, provide portability, and generally improve the process of dispensing food, among other benefits. As shown in FIG. 1, one example is a foil food pouch 10 that includes an internal chamber 12 for storing food. Connected with the internal chamber 12 and extending from the food pouch 10 is a plastic threaded tip 14 with a tip opening 16 for dispensing food. The threaded tip 14 is hollow, and therefore the food pouch 10 includes a fluid-communication path 18 extending between the internal chamber 12 and the tip opening 16.
The fluid-communication path 18 allows food to move out of the chamber 12 and through the tip opening 16 (e.g., when a user squeezes the food pouch 10) such that the food can be dispensed into, for example, a bowl. A threaded portion 20 is disposed on an outer surface 22 of the threaded tip 14, and is configured to receive and engage a thread-receiving portion 24 disposed on an inner surface 26 of a cap 28. Due to the complementing nature of the threaded tip 14 and the cap 28, the cap 28 can be screwed onto the threaded tip to seal the food in the chamber 12 (when the food pouch 10 is being stored or transported, as a few examples).
In recent years, these sorts of food pouches have become very popular, and are currently used by many food companies throughout the world. These food pouches may contain a wide variety of food products of different types and viscosities, with a few representative examples being fruit juices, fruit and/or vegetable purees, sports drinks, dairy products, and the like. And different food pouches are often targeted towards children of different ages.
For example, because babies that are, e.g., approximately four months to one year old are typically starting to eat their first solid foods, parents and other caregivers of these children often feed them at least in part using food pouches that contain strained fruit, vegetable purees, and the like. Many parents or caregivers also seek to begin spoon-feeding children at around this age. This led to the development of a dispensing spoon 30, an example of which is also depicted in FIG. 1. Like the cap 28, a threaded portion 32 is disposed on an inner surface 34 of the spoon 30. As such, the spoon 30 can be screwed onto the threaded tip 14 of the food pouch 10. The spoon 30 also has a hollow core 36, and therefore includes a fluid-communication path 37 extending between the internal chamber 12 and an attached serving basin 38 (through the hollow core 36). When a user squeezes the food pouch 10, food is moved out of the internal chamber 12 and dispensed into the serving basin 38 for feeding to a child by a parent or other caregiver.
As another example, for toddlers and older children, food pouches are often used that have a wide variety of puree blends, fruit juices, yogurt, dairy drinks, and the like. Since these children are often considered to be old enough to feed themselves, parents and other caregivers often give these food pouches directly to children. However, rather than dispensing the food into a bowl, children often put the threaded tip straight into their mouths and then dispense and eat the food directly. This is often undesirable, as the threads on the threaded tip can cut and/or otherwise cause discomfort to the child's mouth. Indeed, these threads are often machine-added onto the threaded tip, and therefore are often made of a hard plastic and contain sharp edges. Further, children may cause damage to their teeth by chewing on the threaded tip.
Some parents and other caregivers may let children try to feed themselves by using the above-described attached dispensing spoon, but this is also often undesirable. Unlike parents or other caregivers, children are often not able (or willing) to use such a spoon in a controlled way, and therefore they often spill the food once it is squeezed out of the chamber and into the spoon's basin. As one example, children often squeeze too much food out of the chamber at one time, causing an overflow of the basin. Further, even if the basin does not overflow, children often accidentally (or purposefully) rotate the food pouch (and therefore the attached spoon) after the food has been squeezed into the basin, which again typically causes some or all of the food in the basin to spill. In addition, in the event that the spoon breaks off or is inadvertently unscrewed from the threaded tip, there is a significant risk that the child could choke on the detached spoon.